Pneumatic tire.



1". s. DICKINSON.

' PNEUMATIC TIRE. APPLICATION FILED OGT. 1'1, 1912.

Patented Nov. 1914.

um n 10':

qmmmo; 1 I j 3 KW shoe or casing nEn EIcK s. DICKINSON,

, UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

Beit known that I, FREDERICK S. DICKIN- SON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Tires, of which the following is a specifica- This invention relates to pneumatic tires such as are now commonly used upon automobiles and other vehicles, and my improvements have particular relation to the elastic which constitutes the outer portion and tread of the tire and incloses the inner air tube. Such shoes or casings comprise a body constituted by layers of textile fabric held 'n cohesion by caoutchouc or rubber and carrying an external portion constituting the tread. The fabric body has 40 ftlon is expensive and point of extreme weakness at which blow- -of separate layers or plies of textile threads in straight lines, and

when in use and heretoforeybee'n built up from .a plurality fabric, to produce the required thickness, each layer being made up of separate strips spliced together at lap joints. -Fabric adapted for the purpose is woven with warp and woof owing to its limitations in standard width it is cut on the ,bias to produce the required length of strips which are lapped and spliced .their ends to form theindividual layers or the body fabric of the tire,

together at plies from which casing is built up. The separate fabric layers thus formed are built up in lam1- nated or superposed order to produce the desired body thickness of fabric.

Theemployment of lapped and spliced joints in the fabric layers, and the employment of separate layers of fabric, in the tire casings as now generally constructed, is open to many disadvantages. The construcrequires much time and labor, and the lapped joints produce a outs usually occur, this being due to the excess thickness and strength at such jointlap, which prevents the uniform absorption of the shuffling action of the separate strands throughout the entire body of the fabric under the elastic action of the tire abruptly checks the same at the line of such joint,v thus causing a sawing action between tl1e1.-strands and resulting in a break at the line of the joint.

'A further difficulty is encountered in uniting the separate superposed layers or plies ,of fabric at all points over their respective -rol ls tends to surfaces of the {k 1,115,514, Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted Nov, 3 1914,

Application filed October 11, 1912. Serial N 0. 725,245. To all whom it may concern: surfaces. In the prior construction, as

above set forth, cohesion inthe body fabric built up of the separate layers is secured by caoutchouc or rubber applied between the layers,and this is accomplished by pressing the rubber upon the surface of the fabric layer as it is passed through calender rolls.

he great pressure necessarily applied inithe flatten out the threads or strands of the closely-woven fabric, thus closing the open mesh and precluding the entrance of the rubber within the mesh. It

is desirable to impregnate the mesh of the fabric with the friction rubber, but the mere skin coating resulting from the application of the rubber by calender rolls does not penetrate the pores or mesh of the fabric and forms only a cohesive bond between the separate layers of fabric. Consequently, the threads or strands of the respective layers of fabric are subject to a sawing movement under the elastic action of the tire, which materially reduces durability. Furthermore, the requisite high compression upon the fabric in the calender rolls fractures or impairs theoverlapping threads or strands, thus initially causing points of weakness and a high percentage of loss in the effective service or life of the tire.

In the prior construction, requiring the building up of the fabric body of the tire casing rom separate layers of fabric, the fabric must be stretched or distorted to produce the required curvatures in theshape or contour of the segmental cross-section and annular or ring form of the complete shoe or casing, and this stretching or distortion further weakens any distended threads or strands and produces inequalities under which the non-uniformity in the torsional status and structural condition of the diiferent strands, some being dist-ended and others highly compressed, permits of a greater degree of shuttling movement of the strands and a tendency to work upon each other with a. sawing action. when the tire is in use, which action of the strands is transmitted from layer to layer and ultimately causes a break through the entire. body fabric, this being another frequent cause of blow-outs. Furthermore, in the employment of separate layers of superposed or laminated fabric, uniformity of torsion does not exist throughout the body fabric, as the torsional strength will vary which can be more readily and SZCOIlOll'llCiLllY manufactured and which will possess maxisegmental cross-sectional. contour to which my improvements relate.

mum advantages in point .of uniformity throughout the body fabric, strength, durability, and general efficiency.

To these ends, my invention comprises an improved tire in which its layers .or plies interwoven or directly connected in a unitary endless fabric conforming to the shape or contour of the annular and segmental cross-section body, and my improvements also comprise a body fabric of this character having caoutchouc or rubber impregnating the entire unitary fab ric between each ply and between. all the threads or strands and in allthe spaces of the fabric mesh, substantially'as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in, the claims. i 4

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a crosssection through a pneumatictire of a type Fig. 2 is a detail section, on an enlarged or magnified scale, on a plane transverse of the body fabric. Fig. 3 isa detail section corresponding to Fig. 2, on a plane longitudinal of the body fabric. Fig. & is an outline view, showing a transverse cross-section of thebody fabric and a part of the longitudinal extent thereof in perspective, as said fabric is finished and ready for assembling in the tire construction. Fig. 5 is an outline View illustrating a longitudinal section of the body fabric as completed in annular or ring form and ready -for assembling in tire construction;

Corresponding parts in all the figures are denoted by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the tire shoe or casing, which comprises the fabric body, 2 and elastic external portion constituting the tread, 3, which casing incloses the inner air tube, 1,- and 'i's'held in connection with the wheel rim, 5. I have herein illustrated a clencher tire, which is one of the types to :which my improvements are adapted, and in this type the casing has the terminal edge or base portions, 6, of its within the 'edge flanges of the rim 5, said portions 6 conforming to the internal con. tour ofthe rim 5 and beingfor this purpose plies enlarged by separation of the layers or the body fabric has clenched of the body fabric to form a. pocket within which is inclosed a continuous strip of hard fru her, as at 7 lhe improved body fabric 2, as comprised in my invention, is a unitary endless fabric conforming to the annular and segmental cross-section shape or contour of the shoe or casing and havlng a plurality of superposed layers or plies which are inter-.

woven or directly connected together. have herein illustrated or construction of such body fabric, in which each layer or ply 1s composed of interwoven warp\ and woof threads or strands, 8 and 9, suchstrands of the respective layers or plies being at different points orintervals interwoven with the threads or strands of the next adjoining layer or ply, as at 10, whereby all the layers or plies are connected in a homogeneous unitar Y body fabric. But it will be understood that the unita'ry multiple-ply body fabric may be formed in any other adapted weave or manner; for instance, with a supplementary weave connecting the respective layers or plies, or by tying the threads or strands of adjoining plies together, or by y spective layers nected in a unitary endless body fabric.

one preferred form unitary multiple-ply Preferably, in the organizationof the unithreads extend on the bias as in the con;

structions heretofore employed in which the layers or plies of the'body fabric are pieced from strips cut on the bias from a piece 0'. straight-woven fabric. v

Theimproved-body fabric, having the characteristics above described, affords uniform conditions and a uniform'torsional status throughout the entire unitary fabric and obviates all the disadvantages and loss of effective service which result from the pieced separate-layer construction heretofore. employed, as hereinbefore set forth, and the improved unitary body fabric is adapted for effective impregnation as a whole or unit with caoutchouc or rubber withput subjection to high pressures to apply'cohesive skin coatings, as in calender rolls, and thus precludes stretching or distortion of any of the threads or strands. The obviation of the application of high pressure, as heretofore required, also enables the thorough impregnation of the imjiiroicd unitary multiple-ply body fabric with caoutchouc or rubber at all points within the mesh'of the respective connected layers or plies and between the threads or strands thereof as well as at all points he ti-veen the layers or plies,

as illustrated in.

. fabric, to be textile and caoutchouc body.

Figs. 2 and 3, thus producing a uniform omogeneous body combining the textile layers or plies and the caoutchouc filling.

' The homogeneous impregnation of all parts of the thoroughly combine the textile and caoutchouc filler, is adapted, by reason of the unitary construction of the multiple-ply readily effected by any of the Well-known vacuum, processes, which exclude all air and dry out all moisture, and in this preferred employment of the vacuum process of impregnation it is simply necessary to subject the complete unitary tirecasing body fabric to the application of the caoutchouc filler in vacuum, whereby a thorough and eiiective cohesion. of the respective connected layers or plies and of each thread or strand of the unitary fabric is secured without the distortion or stretching or deterioration of the fabric such as necessarily 7 results from the application of high pressures.

But it will nnpregnation of the fabric, as comprised be understood that the improved unitary body in my improvements,

may be effected in any suitable or adapted manner, to thoroughly combine the textile and caoutchouc filler to produce the homogeneous. tire-casing body fabric. .For instance, the threads or strands may be saturated with caoutchouc being Woven into the unitary multiple-ply body fabrics, and under the vulcanization to which such body fabrics thereafter are sub jected the heat of the vulcanizing process will cause the caoutchouc carried by the woven threads'or. strands to mold into all parts of the mesh of the respective plies, and between the strands and between the plies and thus produce the homogeneous Itwill be understood, in this high pressure calendar rolls application of the rubber to separate layers or plies of body fabric, as hereinbeiore set forth, air and moisture are not thoroughly excluded, and thereforein the subsequent process of vulcanizing under high heat the air or moisture in the fabric body forms pockets and thus precludes proper cohesion between the layers or plies and rubber at all surface points, whereas the adaptability oft-ho improved unitary multiple'ply body fabric, as in my invention, to a vacuum process of impregnation, thoroughly eliminates the presence of air or moisture at any point in the homogeneous body prior to the process of vulcanization.

The general details oi": construction of the unitary body fabric may be varied as desired improved body fabric 2, to

or rubber before I connection, that under the contour of the with reference to the ty improvements are applied. If a clencher type of shoe or casing is employed, as herein illustrate the base edge portions 6 of the unitary endless body fabrlc are interwoven with the main segmental cross-section body, in like manner and preferably with a. lesser number of connected layers or plies, to form the continuous inner wall or extension, as at 11, of the base socket, and to form a continuous flap or extension, 'as at 12, which is adapted to be folded inwardly, after the rubber core 7 has been seated in .pos'ition between the wall or extension 11 and said flap or extension 12, to form the bottom wall of the base socket, and have its terminal edge connected-in the usual manner with the edge of the wall or extension 11, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

I do not desire to be understood as limpe of tire to which the iting myself to the detail construction and arrangement of parts as herein shown and described, as it is manifest that variations and modifications therein may be resorted to, in the adaptation of my invention to varying conditions of use, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and improvements. I therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifies tlons as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the terms of the following claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

As a new article ternal textile body for the shoe or having its body mal contour of an endless annular and segmental c ss-section ring conforming to the elastic body of the shoe or casing within which it is to be embedded, and with all its threads or strands initially in normal relationship tosaid body contour, and constituting a homogeneous textile unit in normal condition for placement in of manufacture, an infabric or carcass unit, casing of pneumatic tires,

association withthe elasticbody of the shoe or casing withoutdistortion of any part of its initial woven normal body contour and without stretching or distortion of any of its threads or strands.

In Witness whereof I have signed my name in the presence of the subscribing wit FREDERICK s. DICKINSON Witnesses: I

Au'rrio'n B. KELLY, Jos. Rnno LIlTELlL.

Woven initially in the nor-. 

